Apparatus for shunting suspended loads from one track or position to another.



' No. 674,65]. Patented May 2|, I90l.

' G. O. MAOBOW & H. G. CAMERON.

APPARATUS FOR SHUNTING SUSPENDED LOADS FROM ONE TRACK OB POSITION TO ANOTHER.

2 Sheets-Shet 1.

(Application flled Jan. 8, 1901.)

No. 674,65I. Patented May 2|, I90l.-

.G. C; MACBOWO, H. G. CAMERON. APPARATUS FOR SHUNTING SUSPENDED LOADS FROM ONE TRACK 0R POSITION TO ANOTHER.

(Application filed Jan. 8, 1901.) (No Modal.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

m: norms Firms PHO'YD-LITNQ. wAsamowN. o, c.

UNITED STATES PATENT Fries.

GEORGE COLBY MAOKROW AND HERBERT GEORGE CAMERON, OF LONDON,

ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR SHUNTING SUSPENDED LOADS FROM ONE TRACK OR POSITION TO ANOTHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 674,651, dated May 21, 1901. Application filed January 8, 1901. Serial No. 42,546. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern: I speed at which the load may be traveling when Be itknown that we, GEORGE COLBY MAOK- it reaches the bar being regulated as it passes ROW and HERBERT GEORGE CAMERON, subover the said bar or of being brought to a jects of the King of Great Britain, residing standstill.

at Orchard Yard, Blackwall, London, Eng- The above regulation of speed may be ef- 55 land, have invented a new and useful Appafected by inclining the shunt-bar so that the ratus for Shunting Suspended Loads from load in sliding down it attains the required One Track or Position to Another, of which speed. the following is a specification. Although the slip-hook is mainly intended The object of this invention is to provide a to engage directly with a travelingline, it may 60 means for transferring and depositing a load engage it indirectly.

(which may be in the first place either sta- To enable the invention to be fully undertionary or moving) onto or from a traveling stood, we will describe how it can be carried line or rope and in such a manner as to avoid into practice by reference to the accompanyany considerable shock during the operation. ing drawings, in which 65 According to our invention we employ a Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of an special form of automatic grip-hook for cararrangement of apparatus constructed accordrying the load, a shunt-bar along which the ing to our invention for shunting suspended said hook travels with the load to or from the loads from one track to another. Figs. 2 and traveling line, and a striking plate or bar for 3 are respectively a sectional end elevation 70 causing the grip-hook to disengage from the and a sectional plan of the same. Figs. 4 and traveling line. 5 are respectively views at right angles of a In carrying out our invention we construct detail drawn to a larger scale than Figs. 1, 2, a duplex hook, one of which hooks is a slip or and 3. Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively a side trip hook designed to engage with the travelelevation and a plan of another arrangement 75 ing line and to be disengaged therefrom by of our apparatus, and Figs. 8 and 9 are simithe striking-plate,the other beinga fixed hook lar views of another arrangement. Figs. 10 for the purpose of engaging with the shuntand 11 are views at right angles to each other, bar. In the slip or disengaging hook the face respectively, of the grip-hook; and Fig. 12 is of the slipping tongue forms an acute angle a sectional side elevation of the same. Figs. 80 with the face of the stock or main part of the 10, 11, and 12 are drawn to a larger scale than hook, so that the line or rope which it is dethe remaining figures. signed to grip cannot get right up into the Similar reference-letters indicate similar or throat, but becomes wedged in between the corresponding parts throughout the drawtongue and stock or main part, whereby the ings. 8 hook is caused togrip the line to prevent slida, Figs. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, and 9, is a traveling. This slipping tongue is held in its noring line working in a horizontal direction and mal position by a spring trigger or catch, passing around pulleys, oneof which isshown which by coming into contact with the strikat a, Fig. 8, and 19, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, is a ing-plate releases the hook from the traveltraveling line working in a vertical direction ing line and allows it to engage the shunt-bar, and serving to feed the line a with the load, the slipping tongue and trigger then returnas hereinafter described. The line 6 consists ing to their normal positions under the action of two ropes or chains working over pulleys of a spring. The shunt-bar in addition to c c and carrying between them cross-shafts 5 carrying the load during the time it is being d d, having rollers e e on their ends working transferred from one point to another, after in guides f f in a casing g, the said shafts having been disengaged from or previous to being provided with shackles h h for the atengaging with a moving line, also serves to tachment of the load alter the direction of motion of the load when j, Figs. 1, 10, 11, and 12, is our duplex 5o necessary, and at the same time to allow the hook carrying the load 2', and k is the inclined 10o shunt-bar which in Figs. 1 to 3 serves to divert the load 71 from the line b to the line a, while in Figs. 6 and 7and 8 and 9 it serves to divert the load from the line a.

Z, Figs. 10, 11, and 12, is the slip or disengaging hook of the grip-hookj, and m is the fixed book. The said hook or tongue I is pivoted at '17. Within a slot 0 in the stock or body 13, and q is the springcatch for looking the said tongue in the position shown by the full lines in Figs. 10 and 12, the said catch being pivoted to the stockp at p. The inner face of the tongue 1 forms an acute angle with the stock p, so that the rope a when engaged therewith becomes wedged between the said parts, as shown by the dotted lines in Figs. 10 and 12, and so the hook cannot slip thereon.

'r is the striking-plate against which the spring-catch q comes into contact, as hereinafter described, to disengage the said catch from the tongue Z, and thus release the latter from the line a or .the like supporting it and allow the fixed hook mto engage with a shuntbar, the said tongue turning on its pivot to about the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 12.

Z is a spring for returning the tongue Z to its normal position against a stop 1 In Figs. 1 to 3 the shunt-bar it has one end extending within the casing g and in position for the engagement therewith of the fixed hookm of each grip-hook j, carried by the cross-shafts d d of the vertically-traveling line, and has the striking-plate r in close proximity to it. The said shunt-bar is connected to the casing g by a bracket 5, and the other end is pivoted to a frame 25, carrying rollers u u, engaging the line a. In order that the bar It can move in accordance with any oscillatory movements of the rope a, it is connected to the bracket 8 by a universal joint 4). (Shown clearly in detail at Figs. 4 and 5.) In Figs. 6 and 7 the shunt-bar is connected to the line a at one end, in a similar manner to that of the shunt-bar shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3; but it is provided with two horns it for guiding the hook j to the bar 75, and the striking-plate is also arranged at this end. The other end of the bar is connected by the universal joint '0 at a point below the line Ct. In Figs. 8 and 9 the shunt-bar is also provided with the horns 7c is, as in Figs. 6 and 7, and is connected at one end to one end of an arm to, pivoted at the other end to the bearing of the pulley a, the said arm w carrying a roller ar,'which bears upon the line Ct, and thus maintains the end of the shunt-bar in its proper relative position with the said line a. The striking-plate r is also carried by the arm w.

The operation of our improved apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 3 is as follows: The loads'll carried by the traveling line b successively pass the strikingplate 4", so that the springcatch g on each duplex hook j comes into contact with the said plate r and is disengaged from the slip-hook Z, so that the latter is released from the shackle hand allows the fixed hook on to bear upon the shunt-bar 70, down which the load slides by gravity and engages the traveling line a-by means of the slip-hook, the sh unt-bar being at such an inclination that the load attains about the same speed as that of the line aby the time it reaches the latter, so as to avoid shock. The load is then carried by the line at until the spring-catch on its grip-hook comes into contact with another striking-plate rfor instance, that shown in Figs. 6 and '7 or Figs. 8 and 9-when it is caused to leave the line Ct and become engaged with the shunt-bar in connection with the said striking-plate. The load then slides down the said shunt-bar to any required position. By forming the shunt-bar so that one portion assumes a horizontal position the load can be brought to rest on the said bar.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is- 1. The combination with a traveling line or rope for carrying loads of an inclined bar or bars for supporting or guiding the loads onto or from the line, of a duplex hook for suspending the loads, one hook of which designed to engage with the line is formed with a movable tongue normally locked by a springcatch, the other book being rigid and designed to engage with the inclined bar and a plate with which the said catch comes into contact to release the movable hook from the line, substantially as and for the purpose, set

forth.

2. In transporting apparatus, the combination with a traveling line, of an inclined guidebar for supporting or guiding loads onto or from the line, a universal joint connected to one end of said guide-bar and to a fixed support, and devices connected to the other end of said bar and engaging the line, substantially as described.

3. In transporting apparatus, the combination with a traveling line,of an inclined guidebar having one end adjacent to said line, and a duplex load-carrying hook provided with a hook for engaging said guide-bar and a hook for engaging said line, substantially as described.

4. In transporting apparatus, the combination with a traveling line,of an inclined guidebar having one end adjacent to said line, a duplex load-carrying hook provided with a hook for engaging said guide-bar, a pivoted hook for engaging said line, and a locking device for said pivoted hook, substantially as described. v

5. In transporting apparatus, the combination with a traveling line,of an inclined guidebar having one end adjacent to said line, a duplex load-carrying hook provided with a hook for engaging said guide-bar, a pivoted tongue forming an acute angle with a part of the hookbody, when in operative position, to

clamp the said line, and cause the hook to travel therewith, and a locking device for said pivoted tongue, substantially as described.

6. In transporting apparatus, the combination with a traveling line,of an inclined guidebar having one end adjacent to said line, a duplex load-carrying hook provided with a hook for engaging said guide-bar, a pivoted tongue for engaging said line, and a detent for holding said pivoted tongue in operative position, and a striking-plate adjacent to one end of said guide-bar in position to engage said detent, substantially as described.

'7. In a transporting device, the combination with a traveling endless line, of a guide-bar inclined to the path of said line, and having its lower end adjacent to the line, and a duplex load-carrying hook having a hook for engagingthe line and a hook for engaging said guide-bar, whereby said duplex hook and its load will acquire initial speed While sliding down said guide-bar so as to avoid shock in transferring to the moving line, substantially as described.

8. In a transporting device, the combination with a traveling endless line, of a guide-bar 

